Tales of Symphonia Story, Tethe'alla Chronicles (3)

QUIZ START: After getting downstairs, you found everyone waiting, cloaks tied firmly over their shoulders so that they would be ready for their travels that day.
"Oh...Aura!" Colette greeted fondly. She jogged over to you and hugged you "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah." you nod, "But...I've got something to tell you guys..."
"What?" Lloyd questioned. You smiled a bit as you say,
"...I'm 18."
"!?" everyone jumped slightly,
"W-wait...you mean..." asked Genis, you nod,
"Yeah. Yesterday... was my Birthday."
"W-well...well Happy Birthday, Aura." Lloyd smiled,
"Yeah." Sheena agreed,
"My Silver Maiden's birthday! This calls for celebration!" Zelos announced,
"N-no! No!" you insist, "Don't worry about it. I don't want anything special."
"Wh-what?" the ninja demanded, "Why not?"
"No, it's ok." you insist.
"You mean you don't want a party or anything?" asked the red-clad teen curiously,
"Yeah." you say, "Nothing special. I don't want you guys going out of your way. It's fine."
"A...birth day." Presea repeated. You all got sweat drops, *Well...Presea is acting normally...*

"Do you know what that festival last night was about?" asked Raine.
"Oh. Yes." you say, nodding, "It's held once a year to try and bring good luck in the Summer Harvest."
"Harvest?" asked Lloyd "In a place like this?"
"I've heard a surprising number and variety of plants grow around Flanior, despite the climate," Regal commented, "A good amount of what grows here is hard to find on the Tethe'alla mainland."
"Do you remember where the Temple of Ice is?" asked Sheena. You nod again,
"Yeah." however you then remember a long trek across a snowy plain, "But..."
"But?" asked Genis,
"It's on the far side of the continent." everyone groaned softly,
"Aw man..." Lloyd mumbled.
"Hmm...." you began to sort through all of the memories you got back. One of the memories you got back had a flower growing in the ice temple. Then an entire lake turned to ice. The flower was probably what did it. But then you saw weird Penguins wandering around in the snow covered hills outside Flanior. Their feathers, and then a pair of gloves... *What does that mean...that flower...hmm...*
"What is it?" asked Presea, noticing how your expression had changed when you began to think,
"I think... at the Ice Temple...theres a flower we need to find there."
"A flower?" asked Zelos,
"Uh-huh," you say, nod, "Uh...Celsius... uh..." you shake your head,
"Celsius' Tear?" Regal suggested,
"Yes!" you nod,
"What's a 'Celsius Tear'?" Genis asked,
"A flower that can supposedly freeze anything." Regal explained, "The flower itself is so cold that if you touch it with bare hands you'll be burned."
"Then how are we supposed to use it?" asked Lloyd.
"Penguinist Gloves." you interrupt, recalling the memories of those gloves and those penguins you saw earlier "Gloves made from the feathers of a Penguinist should protect your hands."
"If we take the feathers to a Customizer, they'll probably be able to make the gloves for us." Raine suggested.
"We should find the cities Customizer then. So we'll know how many we need to get." Regal advised; you all nod in agreement. You leave the Inn and begin to search for the Customization shop.

You honestly hardly noticed when Zelos lagged back a bit, mumbling to himself. Genis, Regal and Lloyd hung back to talk with him.
"Hm, hm, hm... What am I going to get?" the redhead mumbled,
"?"
"?"
"...?" Genis and Lloyd and Regal gave him a confused look.
"Hey, Zelos," Lloyd asked,
"Hm?" the Chosen looked up, "What?"
"What are you thinking about?" he asked,
"Yes." Regal agreed, "It is rather...unusual for you to be putting so much thought into something.
"Well...'cause you're my friends, I guess I'll tell ya..." he smirked,
"This is gonna be good..." Genis sighed,
"I was thinking about what to get Aura as a birthday present."
"I thought Aura said that she didn't want us to--" the blue haired man started,
"Aw, pe-shaw!!" the redhead laughed, "It's just something nice for my hunny!"
"So...what are you gonna get her?" the brunette asked,
"Well, you see. That's what I'm having trouble with..." Zelos explained,
"Hey, you know what?" Lloyd asked, "I'm gonna get Aura something too!"
"Wh-what?!" the Chosen demanded,
"Lloyd, can I help you?" Genis asked, "Aura's done a lot for us. I want to get her something, but I'm probably gonna mess it up if I do it on my own."
"Sure." he nodded, "Regal, do you wanna help?"
"I don't see why not. I'd be glad to." he agreed.
"Ha! That's it!" Zelos laughed triumphantly, "I know what I'm going to get her!"
"Wow, that was fast." Lloyd commented, "So what is it?"
"Hehehehe...she's gonna look great..." the Chosen chuckled dreamily, apparently not hearing Lloyd,
"What?" Regal questioned,
"O-oh. Nothing, its nothing." he responded,
"You're gonna get Aura something revealing, playboyish, and totally inappropriate, aren't you?" Genis sighed,
"Hey! It's not 'inappropriate'!" Zelos argued,
"One could only guess that Zelos would want to get something like that for a friend." Regal sighed,
"Hey!!" the Chosen exclaimed, offended,
"Hey, Zelos," Lloyd asked,
"Oh, now what?" he sighed,
"I just thought of something. If you get Aura something like that..." he began,
"What?"
"She's gonna let Professor Raine and Sheena slap you to the next millennium!" he laughed,
"Hey..."
"Yeah. And she'd probably be glad." Genis snickered,
"That is probably correct." Regal nodded,
"H-hey!! Why are you all smiling?!" he demanded
"Zelos, Lloyd, Regal, Genis!" Raine called, from the top of another flight of stairs where you all had come to a stop to wait, "Come on!"

After a little while of exploring you found the shop, named Snow White Accessory Shop, and quickly go inside. The inside had lots of sword and shields and such lined up against the walls, and a man was waiting behind the counter, another older man by the fire. You and Professor Raine walked to the old man near the Fire,
"Excuse me." you ask,
"Yes?" asked the old man,
"If we wanted to make Penguinist Gloves," Raine asked, "How many feathers would we need?"
"Let's see..." the man mumbled, thinking, "'Penguinst Gloves', eh? Hmm...I'll need Penguinist Quills."
"How many?" you ask,
"Just bring me as many as you can." he assured, "I'm sure you'll easily gather enough."
"Where can we find 'Penguinists' to get their Quills?" Raine asked,
"Just outside the city you should find plenty."
"Ok." after leaving the shop, you found your way out of the city, and began searching the snow swept plains for Penguinists.

After a while of trekking around outside the city and battling Penguinists you had managed to collect a lot of quills, when Genis asked,
"A-Aura."
"Hm?"
"C-can we go back? I can't feel my fingers!!" the boy questioned,
"Oh! Yeah! I'm sure we've got enough! Come on!" After quickly rushing back into the city, and then back to the Accessory shop,
"..." after giving the gloves to the Accessory Shop owner he counted them,
"Ah yes. Just enough. I can make nine pairs with these. Ok?"
"That'd be great." you nod, "Thank you."
"All right. I'll have your gloves for you tomorrow."

As you all made your way back to the Inn, Zelos asked,
"Hey--wait a minute."
"Hmm?" you pause,
"If this is Aura's home, where're your parents?" You remembered the little flash you saw...of graves. *...*
"Oh yeah..." Lloyd said "I...guess you've got a point."
"If it's been so long since she'd even been to Tethe'alla, they must be worried about her." Presea suggested,
"So," asked Sheena turning to you, "C'mon, Aura. Where're your folks? We want to meet them. Right?" everyone else, more-or-less, responded 'yes'
"...I dont think you can..." you respond,
"Why?" asked Regal,
"..." you look down one street, to see a hill rising from the level surface. That's where the Cemetery was, "...Follow me." you ask, leading them towards the hill. Everyone looked at one another for a moment, but followed after you none the less.

Once you get to the top of the hill, only two graves were up there. You kneel in front of them, and brush snow away from the names.
"Oh my..." Raine gasped,
"Those are..." asked Presea,
"...Aura's..." Lloyd stared,
"Parents...!?" Colette finished. The graves said 'Thomas Asakura' 'Silver Asakura' on a slab of stone that had been spread across the space between the two headstones it said,
'Hard working parents, standing up for the rights of half-elves. Mother and Father of Aura Asakura'
"..." everyone fell silent, and remained that way for a long time,
"Well..." Zelos began, breaking the silence "We know where Aura gets her defense for Half-Elves from."
"Zelos...!" Lloyd mumbled, "This isn't the time!"
"...."